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What size room is the AeraMax 90 for?

A bedroom or office up to about 110 square feet, which is a 10 by 11 foot room.

In a room that size it does a good job. Its air quality light goes from blue to red as the air gets worse, so you can see when it has work to do.

Some store listings say it covers 100 to 200 square feet. Plan on the low end. A 200 square foot living room is too big for it.

For a room that big, the AeraMax 190 is the next size up, and the AeraMax 290 is bigger still.

Is the AeraMax 90 discontinued?

Fellowes no longer sells it on its own site, but a few dealers still have it. Staples carries it too, in its stores only.

Fellowes still sells both of its filters, so if you already own one, it’s easy to keep running.

What should you buy instead?

For a small room, the Levoit Core 300-P. AHAM certifies it for a room up to 222 square feet, just under 15 by 15 feet, so it covers about twice the room the AeraMax 90 does.

We’ve had one since April 2021, and we bought it for our bedroom first. Maybe it was alright for our room size, but we didn’t feel like it. Now it’s in our home office, which is smaller, and it suits that room.

My wife didn’t like the filters. They can’t be washed, so she kept having to buy new ones. My review of the Levoit Core 300 covers what they cost and the rooms it suits.

Still, it’s quiet. You can barely hear it, and there’s definitely less dust in the room since it went in. It’s very easy to live with, and it looks sleek, too, so I’d buy it again.

Which filters does it take, and how often?

A True HEPA filter, part 9287001, once a year, and a carbon filter, part 9324001, every three months. The carbon filters come four to a pack, so one HEPA filter and one pack of carbon filters will last you a year.

You don’t have to keep track. The filter lights on the unit turn red when it’s time for a change. When they do, Home Depot carries both.

The AeraMax 100 and DX5 are the same machine as the 90, so a filter sold for either one fits yours. The filters for the 90, 190 and 290 are all in my replacement filter guide, by part number.

Why do the filter lights stay on after a change?

Push both new filters in all the way, then reset the filter lights. If the lights still stay on, take the filters out, seat them again and repeat the reset.

The reset steps are on page 10 of the AeraMax 90 manual.

Should you turn the ionizer off?

You don’t have to. Turn it off if the faint ticking bothers you, or if you’d rather not run an ionizer at all.

The ionizer comes switched on. To turn it off, hold the PlasmaTRUE icon for five seconds.

The ticking is normal. It means the ionizer is working.

The most ozone Fellowes found from an AeraMax in testing was 4.0 parts per billion, far below the limit of 50. By those numbers, it’s fine to leave on in a bedroom.

The fine print

Three room sizes. Fellowes’ manual says 90 square feet, AHAM certified it for 100 in 2023, and AHAM’s formula, 1.55 times the smoke CADR of 71, gives 110. Store listings say 100 to 200, but go by the 110, since a bigger room is more than it can keep up with.

The manual prints older figures. Its clean air numbers, 68 for smoke and 75 for pollen, come from AHAM’s 2020 certification. AHAM’s 2023 figures are a little higher, 71 for smoke and 87 for pollen, so it puts out a bit more clean air than the manual says.

One ozone figure for the whole line. Fellowes gives the same ozone result for every AeraMax, not one for the 90 alone, and I found no independent measurement.

The UL claim. Fellowes lists every AeraMax as UL certified, and dealers label the 90 UL Listed. I couldn’t find a UL file number, so you’re taking their word for it.

California buyers. Two dealers list the 90 as CARB certified, but I didn’t find it in CARB’s register of certified air cleaners. If you live in California, check CARB’s list for the model before you buy.

Where to go next

Questions

I sold contract-grade furniture from 2016. More about who runs it.